Outdoor Learning Conference 2026

Land Based Education Guide , the ins and outs of land-based education, how to safely take your students out on the land. Will provide helpful tips and some take away lesson plans to help get you started as a homeroom teacher.

In this session, examine how literacy skills foster deeper connections with the natural world. Through first-hand independent and group activities, we’ll experience how natural spaces can pique interest and increase student engagement in reading, writing, conversing, and presenting. However, this session will not focus on how to shift language arts from the classroom to the outdoors; rather, we will explore how time in nature can be enriched by including reading, writing, and structured oral interaction as an element of the experience, drawing learners’ attention to the benefits of time in nature--including reducing anxiety, extending focus, and strengthening social bonds. This session will impart practical strategies for fun and effective literacy instruction as part of outdoor learning.

Powered by BC Parks Foundation’s Learning by Nature program, students are leading the transformation of their school grounds into vibrant Nature Parks. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll take part in the collaborative process used to design these spaces: reflecting on your relationship with the land, selecting environmental features, and placing them spatially on a site map. Explore how thoughtful land-based design can restore biodiversity, increase shade, improve health, provide opportunities for outdoor learning, and empower young people as leaders and caretakers of their environment. Come ready to imagine, create, and collaboratively work towards a shared vision.

This informative and insightful session will introduce the Sending PReschoolers OUTside (SPROUT) Study, a three-year research initiative, part of the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play (CCOP), that explores the health and well-being benefits of an outdoor-focused ECE program for children and their care providers in comparison to conventional ECE programs in Ottawa. This session will provide valuable insight into how parental beliefs, educator satisfaction, and competencies shape children’s access to outdoor play and learning. Through evidence-informed reflection and discussion, the session offers a nuanced perspective on educator well-being and its connection to program type and daily practice. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the benefits and challenges of outdoor-focused early learning and play through the lens of both families and educators, while contributing to a broader dialogue that will help shape national research initiatives.